Brand New Friend To Support Rat Boy
- Written by Marky Edison
Northern Irish quartet, Brand New Friend will support Rat Boy at his London Electric Ballroom show this Sunday. News of the date arrives in the midst of what is proving to be an exceptionally busy year for the band, which now also sees them nominated across three categories - Best Live Band, Best Single (for ‘Girl’) and Best Album for their debut Seatbelts For Aeroplanes (out now via Xtra Mile) - at this years Northern Irish Music Awards, at which they will also perform live. Following the Rat Boy show, Brand New Friend will go on to open for Ash, who handpicked the band to support across their string of Irish headline shows through December.
Still barely out of their teens, Brand New Friend initially formed as a brother-sister duo when guitarist Taylor Johnson - previously a music reporter on BBC Ulster’s ‘Across the Line’ show - received a guitar for passing his GCSEs, soon enlisting his younger sister, Lauren on vocal duties. After their debut American Wives EP garnered local radio support, the siblings from Castlerock hooked up with Aaron Milligan (bass) and Luke Harris (drums) to develop the huge sound and hurtling energy which powers Seatbelts For Aeroplanes.
Following their first headline tour in Ireland last year, Brand New Friend have gone on to play the BBC Introducing Stage at Hull’s BBC Big Weekend, alongside appearances at Reading & Leeds and Electric Picnic, with further support slots for the likes of Starcrawler, At The Drive-In, Feeder, Ash and Pretty Vicious as well as being personally invited to support Snow Patrol on their full Irish tour back in May. The four-piece recently released the video for ‘Why Are You So Tired?’, the latest in a string of single releases from Seatbelts For Aeroplanes which have won fans amongst Annie Mac, Phil Taggart, Huw Stephens, John Kennedy and Steve Lamacq.
UK/IRE dates
15 NOV | Limelight, Belfast (NI Music Awards show)
18 NOV | Electric Ballroom, London (w/ Rat Boy)
18 DEC | Cyprus Avenue, Cork (w/ Ash)
19 DEC | Academy, Dublin (w/ Ash)
20 DEC | Limelight, Belfast (w/ Ash)
